Porygon Purple, Arkani Orange
by porygon181
Summary: A longass story based on my pokemon RP site. It might rate T someday. Right now it's mostly only posted so that Koji will read it. So read it, Koji.
1. Chapter 1

Alrighty, this here is a fic I've been wanting to write for a while. It's based on my roleplay site, and almost all of the characters in it are from said site. So, I guess as the legal disclaimer, I don't own pokemon, and I don't even own all of these characters. But who cares, right?

I intended to post this on as one can get really in-depth reviews on there. But I don't think anyone would read this if I posted it there, so we'll stick with this. At least here I can 'prolly get Koji to read it.

So enjoy!

---

A dark figure hurriedly made its way down the west face of Ibenrock Mountain, muttering quietly to itself. The world was still enveloped in the dark blue of night; the sun not due to rise for hours, and the whole world was silent, save for the mutterings of the figure and the sound of its feet shuffling across the ground. The occasional curse burst out of the character whenever their foot had an unpleasant meeting with a sharp rock, but all else was quiet.

Minutes dragged on as the figure finally made it to the base of Ibenrock, and proceeded to travel on to Basemountain City, still muttering to itself.

"Hi! Sorry to keep you waiting! Welcome to the... no," the gruff, feminine voice growled. "Hello there! Welcome to -" She let out an exasperated scream and threw her head back, snarling at the sky in frustration. The figure's hood fell off; revealing a head of fiery orange hair before she hurriedly pulled the hood back on and, clutching her cloak tighter to her body, continued on.

The sun was barely peeking over the peak of Ibenrock Mountain when the bundled-up figure arrived at her destination in Basemountain. The city, like almost everything else, was still silently sleeping, so the figure unconsciously tiptoed around the city as she posted white fliers on empty walls, telephone poles, and shoved them into mailboxes when she felt too lazy to find a proper hanging place. The first Meowth had uncurled from its resting place and began roaming the streets in search of bottle caps when the figure ran out of fliers; by the time the first breakfast was set on anyone's table, the figure was well on her way over the mountain, muttering quietly to herself. Bird pokemon soared across the sky, offering melodious wake-up calls to citizens of Basemountain. The sun nudged wildflowers to wake and open their petals to the sky. Two Meowths fought over a discarded tin can top. Business' lights came to life, and "closed" signs changed their greeting to "open." A new day had begun.

---

_Who makes a jungle this dense?_

This question had found itself running through the boy's mind countless times over the past few hours during his less than pleasant trek through Og Gub. Bushes, trees, vines, flowers, and thorns were everywhere, and the boy's bare skin had come to many intimate meetings with them. Og Gub's lush fauna created beautiful scenery, but it was a pain to travel through. The beautiful flowers offered scents that could literally knock someone out, vines and protruding roots often snagged travelers' feet and threw them to the ground, thorns seemed to reach out and claw at any passerby – Og Gub was no garden, it was a veritable deathtrap.

The boy let out a yelp as his arm snagged on yet another thorn. Luckily, no blood had been drawn – yet – but red, itchy welts were already forming along his arms. He was hot and sweaty, his legs were exhausted from the hours he had spent trekking through the forest, and as he scratched on his arms irritably, he wondered whether the stupid piece of paper clutched in his fist was worth all the trouble.

He had seen the ad on a telephone pole back in the city, and at the time, the offer hadn't seemed threatening at all. There had been no mention of a deadly jungle, well, other than the address at the bottom of the flier. It had only said, "Beginning Trainers Wanted. Free pokemon with acceptance of job. Must be willing to travel." Under that line, there was a scribbled out line that looked like it wrote, "Death may occur," but he had chosen to believe he was just being paranoid. He rather regretted that now.

He sighed, pushed a stray lock of his curly black hair out of his face, and stopped to get his bearings. Not that there were any bearings to get – he wouldn't have known where he was if there had been a map in the sky. With another hopeless sigh, he plunged his hands into a bush and shoved the branches aside to slip through. He cringed as the branches scratched his body, and he contemplated whether he should give up and either try to find his way back to the mountain or become a Monkey Man and live off of bugs and fruits of the jungle. However, his musings were needless, as on the other side of the bush, was the lab.

Calling it a "lab" was really quite a stretch. The building was a run-down mansion, and though it may once have been a beautiful, thriving estate, it was now just as overgrown as the rest of the jungle. A tree was literally growing into the building through a broken window, and the boy could've sworn that he saw a gaping hole in the roof. However, his elation at finally reaching his destination outweighed any feeling of foreboding or disdain for the pathetic excuse for a lab, and he walked up to the door anyways.

The boy stopped to catch his breath for a couple seconds, and knocked on the door. He was a little scared that the whole door might fall down, because it didn't look to sturdy, but nobody answered anyways. He groaned and knocked again, still wary of the door's stability. Of course, to the boy's annoyance, no one answered. He was just about to scream out a "hello" when the door swung open.

The professor wasn't anything like he had imagined. The professor wasn't an old, eccentric man like most of the other renowned pokemon professors were. She didn't look like she could even be thirty. The eccentric part, he wasn't so sure of. The professor was tall and imposing, filling up almost the entire door frame, and covered in orange-red fur. Her face and body were basically in human shape, but her fingers all ended in claws, and she had a tail jutting out of her back that was barely concealed by her white lab coat. The professor was a Pokemorph.

"Come in," she said, stepping back and motioning for the boy to enter. He stepped in and scanned the building, and sure enough, the interior was every bit as haphazard as the outside had been. Standing in front of the boy was a large pile of ruble with ferns growing out of it, directly beneath the hole in the ceiling. He stared at it, wondering if that was indeed the entire lab, when the professor led him around it to an equally messy lab: a large, white room with high-tech machinery, books, and papers strewn everywhere. _Very professional_, he thought with an amused smirk.

The professor walked behind a table and turned to face the boy. She straightened her body to a businesslike posture and plastered an equally businesslike smile onto her face. "Hello there! Glad to meet you!" she said with a smile, "Welcome to Og Gub Lab! My name is Arkani, but people affectionately refer..." She paused and closed her eyes, like she was trying to remember something. "Okay, okay... So, this world is inhabited by creatures known as pokemon. Some use them as pets, but others..." she trailed off, trying to remember the rest of her sentence. The boy saw her look down to her hand, but he was pretty sure she couldn't have written anything on it, what with the fur all over it.

"AUGH!"

The boy jumped, startled by the professor's outburst. "Stupid freaking speech," she muttered, turning around and rifling through a pile of papers. "Stupid kid coming too early… not giving me time to memorize the stupid…" She let out another exasperated sigh, gave up on the papers, and turned back to boy.

"Okay, well, I'm just going to assume you know all of the stuff the speech talks about, alright? I'm Professor Arkani. You are?"

"I'm James," he replied.

"James. I see. You're responding to my ad, right?" James nodded and handed her the paper. "Good… well…" Arkani clicked her nails against the table thoughtfully. She obviously hadn't planned what to do with anyone responding to the ad yet.

James watched her think for a little while, cringing a little every time he heard her nails click against the tabletop. Finally he spoke up. "Do I get a pokemon or something?"

Arkani looked up absentmindedly. "Hm? Oh, yes, just not yet. I have to know that you're capable first… something like that."

James looked at her, confused. "What do you mean? I have to do a quest or something?"

A spark went off in Arkani's eyes. "Yes! A quest! That's brilliant… perfect!" She dashed off into another room, leaving James standing alone in the lab. He could hear her crashing around the building, throwing things and talking to herself. In a few minutes she returned on all fours and with a big smile on her face.

"Okay, I've got it!" she exclaimed, righting herself onto two feet, "Your quest is to go to the crazy hermit's place and retrieve the book 'The Fauna of Ilex.'"

James stood, waiting for the rest of the instructions.

"Hello? Go! I don't have all day!" she announced. She pointed to the door, and then bounded off on all fours into the back rooms.

He had no idea where to go, but judging by the sound of her fingers flying across her keyboard and the pinging of her MSN messenger alerts, Professor Arkani wasn't going to be much help. With a sigh of both determination and hopelessness, James walked out of the lab and back into the unforgiving jungle of Og Gub.

---

Though he had been worried about his lack of direction at first, James was pleased to note that there was winding dirt path from the west wing of the lab off into the jungle. Ten minutes into his "quest" and James was already decidedly happier than he had been on his aimless wandering before, when he'd been searching for the lab. Sure, the path didn't look fun or easy to travel on, but at least it was _visible_, and that was just one of the many reasons this trek was more pleasant than the last; James could almost hear his arms singing with joy at the _lack_ of thorns scraping them.

Now that he no longer felt the entire jungle was out to kill him, James was able to take note of Og Gub's beauty. The looming trees housed several different species of plants and pokemon – James had already seen four different species of bird pokemon nesting in them, and flowers of almost every color in the spectrum – and the trees themselves varied in size, shape, and color almost as much as the pokemon living in them. Even the blistering heat from the sun didn't seem so terrible, at least when James could focus on the sounds of birds singing, the sounds of life in the treetops and behind every bush, even the quiet whisper of wind rustling through the leaves…

And suddenly, with pained grunt, a tug on his leg, and the feeling of gravity pulling James towards the ground, the positive outlook was gone like a candle dumped into a lake. James had tripped on a root and was lying facedown in the biggest mud puddle he had ever encountered. James grumbled and cursed in his mind as he stood up, because he was unwilling to actually open his mouth and scream them like he wanted to, for fear of letting any of the disgusting mud into his mouth. He glared, first at the giant puddle and then at the path before him, and continued along on his quest, the thought of Og Gub's natural beauty never once entering his mind.

"Who makes you complete a _quest_ before giving you a pokemon?" he questioned aloud. He was no longer trudging through the jungle, but stomping forcefully against the ground as he walked. Pokemon squealed and ran in every direction away from James, thinking there was a rapid Donphan on the loose.

"I bet in _Kanto_ they don't make you do some stupid quest. No… here it's all, 'Oh no! You must slog through mud and thorns and various other underbrush and threats to your life before we give _you_ a pokemon!'" James ranted. "I bet in Kanto they're just like, 'Hello dear, you want a pokemon? Sure, take one of our finely bred specimens and embark on your wild adventure! Do treat this fellow nicely!' Stupid…" James' not-so-internal monologue was silenced as James fell upon the sight of a ramshackle hut sitting in the middle of a small clearing.

"This must be the hermit's place," he mumbled. He walked carefully up to the dilapidated shack, careful not to step into anymore randomly appearing mud puddles – he was still caked in mud from his last encounter and wasn't looking to get a new layer. It was hard to tell where the door was on the hut, as every wooden slat on the building looked loose enough to be a door. James finally decided on one that he was almost sure was the entrance and knocked on it.

"Come in, my precious…" wheezed a crazy-sounding voice.

"I – I'm not you're precious… sir," James called.

"What?" James heard the sound of footsteps scampering across the floor. A door opened about four slats away from where James stood, and the hermit popped his head out. "Then who the hell are you?"

James had thought the hermit's voice had sounded crazy, but it was nothing compared to his actual appearance. The hermit was short (probably around four and half feet, James guessed), but had a beard that reached past his feet. His bald head had lots of old-person freckles, and his crooked smile revealed many missing teeth. His eyes looked positively maniacal, James noticed, but he seemed harmless enough.

"So… I'm James," he began, not exactly sure if the hermit had actually wanted him to introduce himself.

"I don't care," snapped the hermit, turning around and walking back into his hut. "Why are you bothering me?"

"Well, I was sent here by that one professor… Arkani, I think," answered James, following the hermit into the shack before he lost sight of which slat was the real door.

"She wanted me to go on some quest."

The hermit was now sitting at a small table in front of a fireplace. He shot a creepy grin at James. "I see you found Faceplant Pond on your quest," he chuckled, motioning to the mud that was caked all over James' body.

James gritted his teeth. "Yes. Yes I did."

The Hermit laughed. James honestly didn't find it very funny, so he didn't join in.

"So what does your quest have to do with me?" asked the hermit.

"Well, I have to get some book from you," answered James.

"Ah," replied the hermit, his eyes sparking with recognition. "My dear precious. She's always after the precious." The hermit shook his head slowly.

"Uuuuuuuuh…. Yeah," said James, not sure what else he was really _supposed_ to say. "So… can I have it?"

A fire lit up in the hermit's insane eyes. "NEVER!" he cried, leaping up on the table, clutching a book to his chest.

_How the hell did he get that book?_ James thought, mystified.

"YOU CAN NEVER HAVE THE PRECIOUS!! NEVER! YOU MUST CATCH ME FIRST!" cackled the hermit. With that, he leapt off the table and disappeared down one of the hallways. There was a surprising amount of hallways in the shack, James noticed with surprise, as the shack looked really small from the outside.

"Are you sure?" called out James with uncertainty. He didn't really want to have to chase this guy around to get the book. However, his only response was some more insane cackling that echoed around the house, so James had no idea where it had come from.

"Great. Just great," he mumbled, and started down one of the halls.

---

Darkness. There was darkness everywhere, surrounding him, suffocating him. He choked, gasping for air, but it was as if all the air had left him. He could feel the darkness clawing at him, groping him, desperate to crawl inside him. He stumbled, his eyes clenched tight, for there was no difference whether his eyes were open or closed. He tried to call out, to scream, to do anything but claw through the tangible darkness, but it was useless – he was forced to forever wander through this purgatory of darkness.

"Screw this quest," he grumbled, as he tripped on yet another book. James had no idea how long he had been searching for the hermit, but he didn't doubt that it had been days. He had searched through countless rooms, all the while muttering. "It looked so _small_ from the outside." He was currently in a gigantic room that was piled high with books. There had to be millions of them – the piles grew so high that they looked like mountains to James. There was no light in the room, so James felt as if he were in a dungeon. _Or a dungeon library, _he thought with a smirk.

The hermit's cackle echoed across the canyons of literature, leading James outside the terrifying room of books and back into the main room. The hermit was sitting at the table, still clutching the book, rocking back and forth in the fetal position in his chair.

"YOU!" screamed James. He lunged across the room at the hermit, an insane rage in his eyes. The hermit cackled and dodged James' attack easily.

"I HATE YOU! YOU AND YOUR STUPID PRECIOUS!" James yelled, swinging at the hermit. The hermit seemed to disappear and reappear on the other side of the room. James screamed wildly and jumped at him again. "JUST GIVE ME THE DAMN BOOK!"

The hermit laughed and jumped to other side of the room again. James scrambled after him, but the hermit tauntingly dodged again.

"YOU'LL NEVER HAVE THE PRECIOUS!" he screamed in a singsong voice. James lunged, missed by a fraction of an inch, and swiped again. The hermit stuck his tongue out at James, but that small movement gave James the chance he needed. James tackled the hermit's legs, and as the hermit screamed bloody murder, yanked the book from his grasp.

"NOOOOOO! NOT THE PRECIOUS! PRECIOUS! PRECIOUS!!!!"

James glared at the hermit and hurried out of the shack. As he walked back into the jungle, he heard the wails of "PRECIOUS! COME BACK TO ME! COME BACK TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" penetrate the jungle. James smirked, satisfied, and headed back to the lab.

---

In a few minutes, James had made it back to the lab, still holding the "Precious." It had taken quite a while for James to get far away enough from the hermit's shack for the hermit's anguished cries to finally become inaudible. When he could finally hear himself think without being interrupted by the hermit's screams, James had focused on finding, and thusly avoiding, the "Faceplant Pond."

But now, back at the lab finally, the oddities of his quest mostly left his mind. It was all over now; he was at his destination with the object of his quest in his hands. He was finally going to get a pokemon. He smiled, proud of himself, and boldly knocked on the door.

When Arkani opened the door she found James positively beaming, holding out a book to her. She absentmindedly took the book and ushered the boy in, a little frightened that a flower's fragrance… or something like that… had affected James' brain.

"Um, James, right? Are you alright?" she asked hesitantly, guiding him to a chair.

"Of course! I'm more than okay!" he exclaimed, almost bouncing in his seat. "I got you the book! I did it! Can I get my pokemon now?"

Arkani looked at the book with surprise, as she had already forgotten that she was holding it. She held it up and inspected it with a serious look on her face.

On the way back from the hermit's shack, James had never bothered to look at the "precious" book, so he took the opportunity to inspect it himself as Arkani held it up. The book was large, James could attest to that as well as its weight, and bound in thick brown leather. It had no title on the cover, though it looked as if it may have once had one, but the ages had worn it off. There were thick indentions on the front cover from where the hermit's nails had dug into it, and the entire upper-right corner had been gnawed off. James seriously wondered what was so valuable about it.

"So? When do I get my pokemon?" asked James.

Arkani was silent, but suddenly she gasped loudly, with a sharp intake of breath and shocked recognition in her eyes. "This! This – this isn't the right book!"

James shrugged. "Sorry, whatever. He kept calling it his 'Precious,' so it's gotta be valuable or something, right?"

Arkani looked at James in horror. "You took the hermit's Precious?!"

James nodded.

Arkani gasped again and threw the book at James as if it were some deadly, poisonous creature. "Well take it back! Now! Hurry!"

"What? Why? What's wrong with this one?" he asked, picking up the book.

"Get it back to him, _now_!" ordered Arkani, "Before we have a hermit apocalypse on our hands!"

James heaved a sigh and stood up. "So do I get a pokemon?"

Arkani glared at him and bounded off into a back room.

---

BAM! BAM! BAM!

The entire hut shook as James slammed on the wall, as he had no idea where the real door was, the hermit's "Precious" clutched tightly in his arms and a glare on his face.

"Hey! Hermit guy!" screamed James, "I have your book. Do you want it back?"

There was no answer. James knocked some more, but the hut remained silent.

"Stupid old man," he grumbled, and proceeded to pull on every slat on the shack until he found the door. Twelve slats later, James walked into the dark and musty living room of the hermit. James squinted so he could see in the minimal light – the hermit had put out the fir in his fireplace for some reason – and tried to find any signs of the hermit.

"Hello?" he called out, not really expecting an answer. However, the quiet sound of mournful sobbing answered him. James followed the sound down a hallway and into a broom closet, where he found the hermit curling in the fetal position, sobbing into his knees and rocking back and forth.

"Hermit! I have your book," announced James. The hermit didn't acknowledge him and continued to sob. "So, uh… do you want it or what?"

The hermit rocked, back and forth, back and forth. "Oh, the Precious. Why have you left me? Precious!" he sobbed, his entire small body spasming with each sob. James could only stare at him.

"Even now I can sense you, the illusion of your presence taunting me!" the hermit wailed. "But I know you're not really here in this imaginary boy's hands. I know it is not the scent of your superbly chewable leather binding wafting through the air! It's all a lie! A lie! LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!"

Two heavy-sounding thumps echoed through the air, the first one being the Precious smacking the hermit upside the head, the second being the hermit's body hitting the floor.

"What the hell?" screamed the hermit, jumping to his feet.

"I came to give you your stupid book back," replied James, holding out the book. "Here. Take it."

The hermit's eyes got very big, and he snatched the book from James grasp in the blink of an eye. "Ooooh, my Precious! You escaped the bad, bad man and came back to me! Oh, how I love you, my Precious!" He began to smother the book with nasty, wet kisses.

"Oh. Um. Gross. So yeah, I need a different book, actually," said James nervously.

The hermit looked up at him, suspicious. "What book do you speak of?" he asked warily.

James tried to remember the title of the book he was supposed to get. "Um… something about ferns or something… Zilex or something in the title?" He clenched his eyes shut and struggled to recall the name. "Oh yeah! I think it was the _Fauna of Ilex_. Yeah, that sounds right."

"Oh. _That_ thing," answered the hermit. With a sniff of disdain, he tossed the book to the floor. Once again, James had no idea how the hermit had gotten the book. "You can have _that_ old thing."

With that, the hermit turned and shuffled off into the darkness. James picked up the correct book and walked out of the hut, hoping to never have to see the place again.

---

"Hello? I'm back," called out James, cautiously entering the lab. "I think I got the right one this time."

An annoyed groan and the goodbye message from MSN Messenger told James that Arkani was indeed home. She walked past James and motioned for him to follow her into the lab room where she had tried to first give her welcoming speech. James followed quietly, not wanting to say anything that would make her mad – the professor seemed really pissy whenever she had to log off of her instant messenger.

"Uh, here you go," he said, holding out the book. Arkani took it and inspected the title.

"Yeah, this is the right one," she said, setting down the book. "Don't even remember what I needed it for," she mumbled to herself. "So let me guess: you want your pokemon."

James nodded.

"Alright," she answered. "You did complete the quest. Sort of." She began rummaging around the piles of paper and other junk until she pulled out four pokeballs. She set them all down in front of James and stepped back.

"These are the four starters I can offer you: Lunari, Ferness, Lingos, and Zorillo. You do know what each of them are, right?"

James shook his head. "No, not really. No."

Arkani sighed. "Okay, well…" Once again, she looked like she hadn't prepared a sufficient speech or explanation regarding James' questions. "Well, basically, Lunari is the water starter, a little beaver thing. Lingos is a psychic goose, Ferness is a fire and grass type chipmunk, and Zorillo is a poison and steel skunk. You want specifics, you can look them up in a pokedex."

James nodded distantly. He had no idea that the pokemon offered were going to be that… awesome! His eyes darted back and forth between each pokeball, getting more and more unsure which he wanted to choose as he ran the choices through his brain.

"Um, hello? I haven't got all day," interrupted Arkani. Her patience for the sacred ritual of choosing one's partner had run out.

James sighed, ran the choices through his mind one last time, and settled on one. "I think I want that one," he said, pointing at one of the pokeballs. "The Ferness."

Arkani smiled. "Good choice." She picked up the pokeball, wrote herself a note to register the pokemon to James later, and handed James his new Ferness.

"There you go. And here," she said, rummaging through more stuff, "Is your starter kit." She handed James a pokedex, a few potions and pokeballs, and her number. "Your pokedex has quite a few functions that I'm sure you know about, but there are instructions in there anyways. I will send you your job requirements and stuff as I remember them. Until then, you may as well challenge the gyms – you and your pokemon will need to be fit for the jobs I give you anyways."

James nodded, trying to take it all in. Admittedly, the excitement of receiving his own pokemon was making him pay a lot less attention to Arkani than he normally would, but he was sure that he'd remember everything she was saying. Or most of it.

"Alright! Well you have a fun little adventure!" said Arkani. She began nudging and shoving James back towards the door. "I'll see you later! Good luck!" With that, she got James, who was still staring transfixed at his pokeball, out the door. "Bye!"

The door slammed shut, Arkani logged back onto MSN, and James took the first official steps of his pokemon adventure.


	2. Chapter 2

James walked away from Arkani's lab, waiting until he was a few minutes away, and then he held up his pokeball to inspect it. He wanted to release his new pokemon and get to know it, but he didn't want to do it near the lab. It wasn't so much that he would be embarrassed about what Arkani might think – he was more than sure that the MSN obsessed Pokemorph wouldn't think any differently if she heard him talking to his pokemon – it was more that he felt that his first introduction to his pokemon should be more private, sacred even. Not to mention, he sure as hell didn't want Arkani popping in on them and joining in. He shuddered, imagining the scene.

Shoving the image from his mind, James turned his thoughts back to the pokeball in his hand. He could see the little chipmunk through the pokeball's somewhat translucent top. The Ferness inside was sleeping, but James didn't feel like stalling their introduction until the pokemon was awake. James pressed the button on the pokeball, which unleashed the pokemon inside with a flash of light.

Ferness was definitely a cute species of pokemon, James noted, pleased. The pokemon was only a few inches tall and about five inches long. It had moss-like, green fur with two orange stripes down its back. Its ears were orange as well, and it looked to James like the pokemon's paws might've been orange too. The Ferness yawned, stretched, and looked up at James with its small, beady brown eyes.

"Hey, little guy," said James, crouching down. "I'm James. What's your name?" He reached out to pet the little creature.

"My name's Ferness right now, and I think that's how it should stay. Because if you think I'm gonna answer to 'Squeaky' or "Mossy" or 'Stripeback,' you've got another thing coming."

James pulled his arm back quickly and fell back on his hands, startled.

"Another _what_ coming? " mused Ferness, sitting back on his haunches and staring off into space thoughtfully. "What is that even supposed to mean? Who even thought of…"

James gulped. "H – how can you speak? I mean, my language?" stuttered James.

Ferness shot James a withering look of disgust. "Your pokedex, genius. Pokedexes have been outfitted with pokemon translators for years now. Duh."

James was surprised that he had never heard of this before. Never in his life had he heard of people speaking to pokemon, or at least having the pokemon talk back, unless they were part pokemon themselves. Then a question occurred to James.

"Hey, wait. How do _you_ know that?" he queried.

The Ferness looked like it was rolling his eyes at James, but James couldn't really tell, as the pokemon had no distinct pupils. "I've lived in a pokemon lab for as long as I can remember. Of course I'd pick some of the stuff up."

James nodded, the apprehension leaving as the shock wore off. "Oh. So Ferness, huh?"

Ferness nodded.

"So you've always been in this pokeball? Never even been outside before?"

Ferness nodded. "Pretty much. Just been waitin' around for a trainer to come along."

"Wow," breathed James, "So how long were you waiting? Days? Months?" He paused. "Even years?" he asked in an awed whisper.

"How should _I_ know? " Ferness replied, sounding exasperated. "Do you think I had a calendar? It felt like a pretty long time, that's all I know. Now are we gonna go battle stuff or what?"

James stood up. "Okay… battle stuff. I guess we can start going. So, you need to be in your pokeball or what?"

"Whatever works, " replied Ferness disappearing into the pokeball with a small beam of red light.

James stared at the pokeball for a minute, replaying the conversation in his head.

"Hm. Neat pokemon."

---

**ArkiQueen** – dude, did u see the battle earlier?

**Porygon181** – rocked, man. Her Arc kicked. Guess she's not elite for nothing, huh?

**ArkiQueen** –obviously. Tho the way she took down that 1 Tauros?

**Porygon181** – hardcore, hardcore. That poor kid must need therapy now. XD

Arkani's nail's clacked across the keyboard. _Who_ doesn't _need therapy after facing –_

A knock on the front door sounded through the lab.

Arkani growled, glared in the direction of the door, and turned back to computer.

**ArkiQueen** – I gtg. Stupid kids. Brb.

The professor groaned and stood up from the computer and ambled across the lab to the front door. The person knocked again, earning the mumbling of a profane word from Arkani. She got to the door, took a moment to put a half-pleasant look on her face, and opened the door.

To Arkani's surprise, there wasn't one wannabe trainer replying to her add at the door, but two. They both looked to be the same age as the other boy, so probably around fifteen. Offhandedly, Arkani wondered if she had put an age requirement or something on her ads.

"Come in," she mumbled, moving back and motioning for the two to enter. The boy entered first, surveying both Arkani and the lab with an amused look on his face. He was the same height as the other boy had been, so probably around five foot six or something. His medium-length hair was white, and Arkani couldn't decide whether she thought it was natural or not.

The girl that followed definitely had her natural hair color, and it surprised Arkani that she could tell that. The girl's hair was a pale green color, like the color of Celebi. She was shorter than the boy, and she even slouched a little, as if trying to avoid the world. The look the girl shot her proved that she was antisocial, but again it wasn't the girl's actions that shocked her. It was bright purple eyes that were glaring at Arkani, not a normal color as she would've assumed.

_Odd kids,_ she thought, as she ushered the two into the other room. She chuckled to herself. _Perfect._

She led them to the same desk thing that she had taken James to, and turned to face them. "Are you responding to my ad?" she asked.

Both of them nodded, holding out the fliers.

Arkani shoved the papers away, "Keep 'em. Anyways, since you're responding to my ad, I'm going to assume you know what pokemon are and all that jazz. The job you're applying for is not for the weak of mind or heart, so I must send you on a quest to prove that you can handle this. Should you fail this test, there is little reason for you to return to me. However, when you succeed, you may come back here with your head held high and receive your prize. If you don't feel that you are up to it, you may walk out right now."

Both of the kids stayed.

Arkani smiled. "Alright. Both of you must embark on a quest to the hermit. You," she pointed to the boy," to retrieve the Ring. You," she pointed to the girl, "To retrieve my silverware. Now be off! Good luck on your quests, and may you return successful!"

She closed her eyes and posed triumphantly with her arm thrust into the air like a warlord charging onto battle.

_That was a damn good speech,_ she thought, _I need to write that down._

She kept her pose for a little while longer, just so she could be sure that the kids had left, and then she opened her eyes and let down her arm.

However, the kids were still standing there, looking at Arkani awkwardly.

An awkward silence ensued as all three stared at each other.

"Well, what are you still doing here?" asked a bewildered Arkani.

There was another short awkward silence, and then the boy spoke up.

"Who _are_ you?"

Arkani could immediately feel her skin burning, which was saying something for an Arcanine Pokemorph.

"Oh, uh… yeah. Forgot about that. I'm Professor Arkani," she offered lamely. "You are?"

"I'm Alec," answered the boy, completely over the embarrassment of the moment. Arkani envied him.

"I'm Iris," said the girl sullenly.

"Hm. Yeah," said Arkani, "Well, Alec and Iris, embark on your quests! Godspeed!"

With that, they all parted ways, Iris and Alec heading out into the jungle, and the professor bounding back to her computer.

**ArkiQueen** – OMG. You will NEVER guess what just happened.

---

James liked his new pokemon. He had spent the last ten minutes reading Ferness' Pokedex entry, and he had found some interesting facts about his new pokemon. Ferness were generally reckless pokemon, energetic and easily bored. James laughed when he found an excerpt mentioning that feeding a lime to a Ferness would make the pokemon run in circles for hours on end.

_I'll have to try that some time,_ he thought, tossing his pokeball up into the air and catching it again.

Thinking about the squirrel pokemon's massive energy, James realized that he probably shouldn't keep his Ferness cooped up in his pokeball. He activated the release button on his pokeball, and with a flash of light, sent Ferness out in front of him.

"Yeah!! Battle time!" exclaimed Ferness, looking around excitedly. His enthusiasm quickly ebbed, however, when he noticed no opponents.

"Uh, sorry, there's no one to battle," started James. "I just thought you'd like to be out of your pokeball."

"What are you talking about? " snapped Ferness.

"Well, um… I just thought that the pokeball –" began James, but he realized that Ferness wasn't done talking.

"Of course there's someone to battle!" announced Ferness. He pointed up into a nearby tree. "There's an Aipom right there, just begging for me to take that silly look off his face. " He pointed further into the jungle. "Beyond that bush is a Grovyle… we could try to beat it. There's some Spinarak over there, a Taillow nest up there… " Ferness continued to point out pokemon that James had failed to notice.

"Okay! OKAY!! I get it," exclaimed James, an annoyed look on his face. "So my silly human senses suck. It's not my fault."

Ferness looked laughingly at his pouting trainer. "Eh, no big." He looked around, and then turned to James. "We're almost to the mountain, right?"

James looked at the map in the Pokedex. "Yeah."

"Good. We'll be able to kick some Geodude butt," he bragged, bounding off towards the mountain. James followed him, amused by his pokemon's enthusiasm.

---

In a few minutes, James and Ferness had reached the end of the forest and were hiking up the rocky face of Ibenrock Mountain. Somehow, they still hadn't battle any pokemon. James suspected it was because of Ferness' chatter, but the pokemon refused to accept his theory.

"And dude! Imagine if we came across a Golem or something! We'd totally kick its butt! I'd be like WHAM! And then he'd be all… I don't what noises they make, but he'd sill be all OUCH! And then I'd finish him off with -" ranted Ferness, making random jumps and motions to illustrate his "whams" and "bams".

"We're never gonna come across another pokemon with you talking all the time," groaned James.

"Don't be dumb. They're just all scared that I'll beat em. Because I know I will. I'll just be all -"

"I get it!" sighed James.

Ferness stopped making his fighting moves and sat on his hind legs, suddenly alert.

"There, " he whispered, looking just a few feet beyond his location.

Before James could ask what he saw, Ferness had bounded ahead and tackled a rock. The rock growled and lifted its arms, glaring at Ferness.

"Good job, Ferness!" exclaimed James, running up behind Ferness and pulling out his Pokedex. "Okay, now use…" He pressed a bunch of buttons, trying to find the list of his pokemon's attacks.

"Hey! No! Stop!" interrupted a voice. A younger boy, about eleven, ran up and shoved Ferness away. Ferness gave him a startled, but definitely annoyed look.

"You can't battle this Geodude! I want him!" announced the boy. Before James or Ferness could object, he tossed a pokeball at the rock pokemon and caught it.

"Wait a minute!" objected James, though he was already too late. "I wanted to battle that thing."

The boy looked at James. "You want to battle? I can take you on." He held up his pokeballs. "I have three pokemon. Well, four now. Think you can take me?"

James looked at Ferness, and Ferness shot him a look of anticipation.

"We can take 'em. Let's do it."

James smiled and nodded. "Okay, let's do this."

The boy stepped back, a look of absolute confidence on his face. "Okay. I choose… Geodude!"

The boy threw out his pokeball and sent out the rocky pokemon.

"Is that the one you just caught?" asked James.

"No. Of course not," answered the boy with a patronizing tone. "Like I'd do something that dumb."

Ferness rolled his eyes.

Geodude fixed its bored gaze on Ferness, and Ferness stared back. Both boys were silent. Ferness and Geodude continued staring. Both of the boys remained silent. The two pokemon kept staring…

"AHA!"

All eyes turned to James.

"Hehe… sorry," said James sheepishly, his face turning pink. "It's just that I found Ferness' attack list."

"So you're ready?" asked the boy impatiently.

James nodded.

"Alright! Geodude, let's open this up with Tackle!" ordered the boy. His pokemon lifted itself up on its arms and thrust its entire body at Ferness. Ferness easily dodged, and the Geodude landed with no damage.

James was still scanning over the attacks when the Geodude attempted another Tackle. "Okay, got it! Ferness, use Bullet Seed!"

Ferness, grateful that James had finally given an order, fired a Bullet Seed attack directly at Geodude as it hurtled through the air at Ferness. The Bullet Seed hit head-on, and Geodude fell to the ground, instantly knocked out.

"That was too easy," boasted Ferness, shaking his tail and running around in a circle.

"Don't get too cocky," warned James. "His next one might be harder."

"Alright, good work, Geo," said the boy, returning his pokemon. "Now I choose.. Geodude!"

Ferness smirked._Too easy._

_--- _

Iris and Alec both walked through the jungle rigidly, glares fixed on both of their faces. Their bodies were both caked in mud; Iris was only covered from the waist down, making her look rather like a Drowzee, but Alec looked like a statue of mud.

"I. Hate. Mud," he muttered. Iris didn't reply, just kept glaring forwards.

The continued along quietly, the silence diminishing Alec's foul mood. Iris's bad mood, however, didn't budge. She glared just as hatefully at everything in the forest as she had at Faceplant pond. Alec hummed to himself with no particular tune until Iris' glare silenced him. He stopped instantly, and they continued in silence until they reached the hermit's shack.

"Here we are," announced Alec.

"Somehow, I noticed that," Iris replied dryly. Alec just laughed at her sarcasm.

"Hermit! Dude, we're here!" yelled Alec. The jungle echoed his call for a few seconds, and then a door swung violently open on the shack.

"ENTER," boomed a ghostly voice.

Alec stood still, startled, but Iris walked in, completely nonplussed. She looked around the dimly lit shack and saw the hermit sitting at his table.

"Hey, I'm supposed to get some silverware," said Iris. "Where is it?"

The hermit chuckled and rocked back and forth in his chair, stroking his book.

"Can you hear me?" asked Iris, walking up to the hermit and staring at him in the face. "I need the silverware."

The hermit ignored her.

Iris waved her hand in his face. "Hello? Can you hear me? I need the sil-ver-ware. You know, forks and stuff?"

The hermit suddenly twitched, as if snapping from a trance. He slowly turned and looked at Iris.

"Hello, my pretty," he whispered.

Iris immediately took three steps back. "Oh god, gross. No. I need silverware. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

The hermit nodded cryptically, if one can nod cryptically.

"Then tell me where it is," Iris demanded. "I want to get out of here."

The hermit chuckled and shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that, my pretty. Not just yet."

Iris glared. "Why the hell not?"

The hermit slowly set his book down and set his feet up on the table. The robe he was wearing fell down past his ankles, revealing his bare feet.

Iris let out a gasp of horror.

The hermit's feet were not normal, even by feet's standards. They were misshapen and knotted, with long, yellow toenails protruding from the tip of each toe. His feet were almost a green color, covered by various fungi and warts.

"Give the little footsies a kissy-kissy, my pretty," ordered the hermit, "And I'll tell you where to find the silverware."

Iris threw her head back and let out a loud, long, anguished scream of utter despair.

Meanwhile, Alec was scrambling up the surprisingly sharp-angled roof of the hut as hundreds of Pidgeys and Taillows soared through the air and dive-bombed his head. He had seen the Ring after Iris had entered the hut, suspended in the air at least ten feet above the hut, and had gone after it by way of climbing up the hut. This was his fourth attempt already, as all the others had been thwarted by either the birds, or Alec had just taken a wrong step and had slid off the roof.

A loud noise turned Alec's attention from the birds, and he looked down to see Iris fly out of the door and land in a heap on the ground.

"WHY YOU SICK, DISGUSTING LITTLE…" she roared as she rose up, dusted herself off, and marched back into the hut.

Too late, Alec realized that turning his attention away from his goal for even a second was a mistake. Two Pidgeys hit him in the back, and with a scream, he slipped and fell back onto the ground.

"Stupid freaking birds," he growled, and began scaling the hut again.

"GIVE ME THE CUTLERY!" screamed Iris, running at the hermit. The hermit just chuckled, and his Sandslash appeared out of nowhere and knocked Iris away.

She recovered quickly, and lunged at the hermit again. She didn't manage to grab the hermit, but instead she found herself holding the hermit's nasty, bite-mark covered book. An evil glint appeared in her eyes, and she jumped up onto the table.

"Give me the silverware now," she threatened, "Or your precious little book gets it."

The hermit just laughed at her. "Do it. See if I care."

Iris looked blankly at him, her mouth hanging open. "Wh- what?"

"That's not the real Precious," explained the hermit. "It's the decoy Precious."

Iris let out an aggravated scream and hurled the book across the room. The book slammed into a giant cupboard and fell to the ground. The cupboard door swung open, and a giant, six-foot tall butter knife clattered to the ground.

Iris stared at the knife, speechless, and the hermit laughed behind her.

"Well, there's your silverware!"

---

The giant boulder soaring through the air didn't faze Ferness for even a second. He waited patiently until the boulder was close enough, and then jumped on top of it, and then sprang from the hurtling boulder at the opponent's face. With a sharp squeak, Ferness let loose a Bullet Seed at the Nosepass, finishing the pokemon.

Ferness landed on the ground just as the boy recalled his fallen rock pokemon.

"Three down," remarked James with an encouraging smile. "Good work, Ferness."

The other boy scowled. "This next one won't be so easy for your little chipmunk," he warned, throwing out his pokeball. A flash of white light, and a small silver pokemon materialized.

_Aron, the Iron Armor pokemon, _James read, _Usually lives in mountains. Has been known to eat railroad tracks and hubcaps when it can't find ore to devour._

"Cool little guy, isn't he?" the boy commented.

"Don't know why this one will be any harder, but whatever," said Ferness, facing his last opponent.

"Okay, let's start with Bullet Seed," said James. Ferness ran up to Aron, and aimed a Bullet Seed at its head.

The boy just laughed. "Harden."

Aron glowed slightly, and the Bullet Seed attack bounced harmlessly off. With a derisive laugh, the boy ordered a Headbutt, and Ferness was sent skidding back on the ground.

"Think we'll need a new strategy here," groaned Ferness, standing up.

James nodded, scanning through Aron's pokedex entry. "Um, it says here that he's weak to fire. Try using Ember."

Ferness nodded and proceeded to shoot small flames at the steel pokemon. However, the flames were snuffed out as Aron blasted a stream of mud straight through the flames and into Ferness' face.

"Told you that it would be tough," chuckled the boy. "Use Mud Slap again."

Ferness was slammed backwards again by another blast of mud.

"I hate mud!" wailed Ferness, standing up and wiping the gunk from his eyes.

"Again," ordered the boy.

James opened his mouth to tell Ferness to dodge, but Ferness didn't need his instruction. Ferness was sick and tired of being his by the gooey mud, and jumped out of the way before the attack could hit. While Aron looked absently ahead, wondering why its attack hadn't hit, Ferness came up beside it and shot an Ember attack at its side. Quickly, at least for a rock pokemon, Aron turned and headbutted Ferness away. Ferness landed on the ground, panting, but his attack had worked. Aron was wincing in pain, now favoring both of its left legs.

The boy looked alarmed. 'Quick, Aron, use Mud Slap!"

"Don't let him," ordered James. But once again, Ferness was a step ahead. Ferness jumped over the Mud Slap attack and shot an Ember attack down at the Aron from the air. The steel pokemon was out cold before Ferness hit the ground.

"Awesome!" exclaimed James, running to Ferness and sweeping him up in his arms. "You did a great job!"

The boy recalled his Aron, mumbling something unintelligible. James turned to him, still holding Ferness and beaming.

"Good battle," said the boy halfheartedly.

"Thanks!" answered James.

Ferness looked at James, raised his eyebrows, and wondered if the smile on James' face was ever going to come off.

---

Alec and Iris stood in front of Arkani's Lab, utterly exhausted. In his hand, Alec clutched the Ring, and a pile of oversized silverware sat next to Iris. She had lost the soupspoon somewhere in Faceplant Pond, but she doubted the Arkani would miss it. Even though she had made Alec help her carry the giant silverware set back to the lab, she was still exhausted beyond belief. She was so exhausted, in fact, that she couldn't even muster the energy to scowl, though she knew she had every right and reason to.

Minutes went by as Alec and Iris stared at the lab door, both trying to summon the energy to knock on the door. Finally, Alec managed to lift his arm and knock on the door, and he collapsed in a heap at Arkani's feet when she answered it.

"Oh," she said, looking down at Alec and then at Iris. "You're back, I see."

Iris nodded and pointed at the silverware.

"Fabulous!" exclaimed Arkani, looking delightedly at the silverware. "You've got the Ring, I take it?"

Alec held up his hand weakly, and Arkani took the Ring from him.

"Perfect. Now if you'll just follow me," she said, walking into the lab room. Alec got up, and he and Iris followed her. Arkani handed the two coffees, sat them down, and began searching for the pokeballs. Iris and Alec sipped their coffees quietly as they watched the professor dig through her "research work."

"Okay, here we go!" she said, emerging from the piles of paper with three pokeballs. She held them out in front of the two. "I've got Lunari the water beaver, Lingos the psychic gosling, and Zorillo the poison skunk."

They stared at their choices for a little bit, and then Alec decided on Lunari, and Iris chose Lingos. Arkani stood for a moment, making sure they were pleased with their decisions.

"Great," said Arkani, tossing the last pokeball back into the paper pile of doom. She pulled out their packs and starter kits and handed them to Alec and Iris. "Everything's in there… a few pokeballs, potions, your Pokedexes. Now off you go!"

She made a shooing motion and gently shoved Alec and Iris back to the door. She took her coffee cups back from them before she closed the door behind them, and headed back to her computer.

_Finally. Back to the _important _stuff._


	3. Chapter 3

Alec hadn't taken two steps from Arkani's lab when Iris disappeared. He had been fiddling with his Pokedex, scanning through the maps, e-mail systems, and looking for games when he noticed that Iris wasn't walking next to him anymore. He turned frantically, scared that she had fallen into quicksand or had been kidnapped by crazed Primapes or something. However, a quick search of the area proved that no such hazards were present, so he realized that Iris must have just left.

"Great. Now I have to travel alone," he muttered to himself. "Whatever… It's not like she ever talked, anyways." He continued walking through the forest, grumbling to himself. Though he was kind of peeved that she had just up and ditched him, he desperately hoped that she hadn't left because of him. He tried to think of any personality flaws that could have driven her away; had he accidentally insulted her or anything? He couldn't recall ever doing anything like that, so he let the issue drop.

He went back to messing with his new Pokedex, in which he had just found an address book, and forgot to pay attention to where he was going. Fifteen minutes later, he found himself completely lost – he couldn't even see himself on the map inside the Pokedex.

"I suck, " he moaned, walking in circles and trying to find the dot that represented him on the Pokedex's map. He was failing miserably, though, which only caused him to moan more. "Why did I sign up for this? I can't even make it to the first town! I should've stayed home, and maybe gotten that one new computer game. It'd be a lot more exciting than this... at least then I can usually beat the first level before getting lost and dying…"

His self-pitying rant was cut short, though he had a lot more to lament in his mind. Following what seemed to be the trend of his journey so far, Alec hadn't been paying attention to where he had been going, and was now surrounded by a horde of angry Mankeys.

Actually, calling the two Mankeys on either side of him a "horde" was a disgusting exaggeration. But their fixed glares and clenched, furry fists frightened Alec all the same.

"Good monkeys…" he said in an attempt to be soothing, taking a few steps backwards. "Um, how about you go eat a banana or something and leave me alone?"

Predictably, the Mankeys weren't too keen to take him up on his offer. The Mankey on his left was the first to attack, lunging at Alec, fists flying. Alec dodged at the last minute, only to be pummeled in the gut by the second Mankey.

"No fair!" he yelped, stumbling backwards. "You can't attack a defenseless human!"

The Mankeys ignored him and moved forward for a second attack. He avoided the first two Scratch attacks, but a third attack knocked his pokeball off of his belt.

"Jerks!" he exclaimed, looking at the pokemon, shocked. "Why'd you knock off my pokemon?"

The Mankeys looked at him strangely, and what Alec had just said sunk into his brain.

"Oh yeah, my pokemon…" he said, relieved. He rushed over to the fallen pokeball and released the pokemon inside.

Lunari, Alec's pokemon, was unremarkable besides its cuteness. It was just a small beaver, with cobalt blue fur and a blue-gray tail. It held a small, Y-shaped stick, and was sitting on its haunches, looking up at Alec with large, black eyes. It blinked, looked at the two Mankeys that were now running to attack it, and then looked back at Alec.

"You've already got me in a fight? " he asked in a calm, amused voice.

Alec nodded, eyeing the Mankeys. "Yeah, I'm sorry. But shouldn't you be paying attention to them? I mean, before they pummel you?"

Alec winced as the Mankeys came within an inch's distance of Lunari, but the water pokemon merely sidestepped and sent the two monkeys crashing into each other.

"Pummel me? " He laughed quietly. "I'd like to see them try."

The first Mankey recovered faster than the other, and with a cry that Alec was glad his Pokedex hadn't translated, used Fury Swipes on Lunari. Lunari sat still, taking the attack, and then unleashed a Bubble attack into the fighter's eyes. The Mankey wailed in both pain and rage, and Lunari knocked it out with a Tackle. The other Mankey tried to come up behind the beaver, but Lunari knocked its feet out from under it with his tail.

"Don't try to sneak up on me," he said, jumping onto the Mankey's torso and looking it straight in the eyes. "It doesn't work."

A blunt blow to the Mankey's forehead from Lunari's stick knocked it out. Lunari jumped off of the pokemon and walked over to Alec.

"Well, can't say that wasn't fun," he said, though his quiet voice betrayed no enthusiasm. "Now where exactly are we?"

"Oh, yeah," said Alec, fumbling for hi Pokedex. He reopened the map and studied it. "I don't know. I'm really not sure."

"Nifty."

Alec stared at Lunari, trying to decipher whether the pokemon had been serious or not.

Lunari sat silently for a moment, and then looked up at Alec. "Well, I've got an idea. Do you, um…?"

"Alec."

"Yeah. Alec, do you know of any bodies of water nearby? Rivers or lakes or something? I can lead us to something like that, and you could get your bearings back."

Alec looked questioningly at Lunari. "How exactly would you do that?"

Lunari held up the stick. "This thing. It's one of those sticks that leads you to water."

"One of those sticks…?"

"Hey, I don't know what it's called," said Lunari, shrugging. "I just know what it does. So know of any water?"

Alec scanned the map, but it didn't show any bodies of water. He closed is eyes and tried to remember if he had come across any streams in the jungle, but he hadn't been paying much attention while he had been walking.

Suddenly, it came to him. He let out a groan, and opened his eyes,

"Ugh. Yeah, I know a place."

---

The idea that she could have hurt Alec's feelings never crossed her mind. Leaving didn't seem like a big deal to her at all – people often traveled alone, and she had some things she needed to do.

Iris liked her Lingos, though it had taken her a little while to get over the fact that the grass starter had been taken. Grass was _her_ thing, but she could settle for flying types. She looked down at the little gosling covered in purple-gray down sitting in her arms. He was sleeping, his beady eyes closed, his small black beak opening and closing every few seconds. Sure, he was no Bulbasaur, but he was good enough.

Trying not to disturb the Lingos' sleep, Iris shifted her arms until she could reach her Pokedex. She pulled up the map and pinpointed her location; to the south was Ibenrock Mountain, presumably where Alec would be going, but she had somewhere else to go. She double-checked that she was going in the right direction, slid the Pokedex into her back pocket, and Iris disappeared into the jungle.

---

"You just _had_ to complain that we weren't having any battles, didn't you?" groaned Ferness. The little chipmunk stood over the fallen Geodude, at least the fifth wild one they had battled since they had reached Ibenrock.

"I'm sorry," said James deploringly. "But you've been doing awesome anyways."

Ferness sat on his hind legs and puffed out his little chest. "Why thank you. Yes, yes I have."

James chuckled and walked over to Ferness. He picked him up and looked laughingly at his pokemon. "You're getting to be a cocky one, aren't you?"

The fallen Geodude regained consciousness, and grumbling some unintelligible insult, dragged itself away from James and Ferness.

Ferness ignored James' comment, looking around at the rocky scenery, ears pricked and eyes alert. The Ferness fidgeted a little, twitching his tail and turning his head sharply every time he heard something. James was amazed at how much energy the little guy had.

_Just imagine him with limes…_

A massive roar broke out from behind one of the boulders. James turned, startled, but Ferness was already on the ground in a fighting position. The boulder turned around, revealing itself to be the pokemon.

"Oh god. Ferness, it's a..."

"GRAVELER!" roared the pokemon, charging at Ferness.

Ferness smirked, and jumped to meet his opponent.

---

"You call _this_ a body of water?"

Alec and Lunari stood at the edge of Faceplant Pond. Alec looked at the "pond" warily, scared that he would somehow fall in, even though he was sure he was a safe distance away. He remembered the giant soupspoon, lost in Faceplant Pond forever, and he shuddered, imagining himself lost in the sea of mud… Drowning, flailing, forgotten in the grasp of Faceplant Pond…

Lunari's look, however, was one of pure disgust. "How could my stick thing even pick this up? It's disgusting, that's what it is. Who could have the audacity to even call this... this… this _thing_ a pond?"

Alec shrugged. "I know, it's nasty. But that doesn't really matter, because now I at least know where the hell I am."

"Then let's go," said Lunari, shooting Faceplant Pond one last dirty look before waddling off. Alec followed him, this time paying attention to the map, on their way to Ibenrock Mountain.

---

"Ferness, try Bullet Seed again!"

Ferness glared at James. "Gee, really? You think that would work?"

The small grass pokemon ducked underneath the Graveler's legs and shot it with Bullet Seed from behind. The rock pokemon roared and turned around, but a Tackle to the face finally brought the large pokemon down. Ferness opened his mouth to say some smart remark, but a rock smashed into him and sent Ferness skidding across the ground.

The battle with the Graveler had turned into and all-out melee. At first there had only been the one Graveler, which Ferness had taken down with relative ease. But then came another Graveler, and then a few Geodude, and within minutes James and Ferness were surrounded by angry rock pokemon. James was definitely beginning to wish he had caught one or two of the Geodudes he had defeated earlier, because the rock pokemon just kept coming faster, and he wasn't sure Ferness could handle it all.

"Ferness, are you okay?" yelled James, ducking to avoid a Graveler's swinging fist.

"I'm fine, I think, " replied Ferness, knocking out the offending Geodude with an Ember attack. Ferness shot another Graveler with a Bullet Seed, but was thrown into the air by a Rollout attack from one of the Geodudes. Ferness smashed into a rock wall, only to be pummeled by a Rock Throw attack,

"I lied…" said Ferness weakly. "I don't think I'm doing so good."

Quickly, James delved into his bag and pulled out a Potion. He began running over to Ferness, having to jump over a few Geodudes along the way. "It's okay, I've gotcha." He picked up his pokemon and sprayed the Potion over him. James ducked down to avoid a rock that a Graveler had just thrown, and cradled Ferness in his arms.

"You gonna be alright?" he asked, his voice filled with concern.

Ferness stirred. "Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks."

He jumped out of James' arms and knocked out a nearby Geodude. "Yeah, I think we'll be fine."

"Some help would be nice, though," sighed James.

A jet of water shot through the air, knocking out a Graveler.

James looked over to where the water had come from, and saw a small blue beaver running into the brawl, shooting a Bubble attack at any Geodude that got too close. A boy with white hair jogged behind him, looking at James with mild concern. He seemed to be more excited about being in a battle than about James' welfare, but he came jogging over to James all the same.

"You okay?" he called, heading towards James.

James nodded. "Yeah, we definitely are now," he said, smiling. "Thanks."

The boy shrugged. "No problem. I'm Alec." Alec stuck out his hand.

"James," he answered, shaking Alec's hand.

A Geodude skidded across the ground and stopped at James and Alec's feet. The two looked over to their pokemon, and saw the two standing triumphantly, surrounded by the fallen rock pokemon. A few Geodudes and Gravelers were rumbling off, but most seemed to have fainted in just the few seconds that Alec and James had met.

"Alright, Lunari!" exclaimed Ferness, attempting to give the pokemon a hug. However, Ferness' stubby limbs made this difficult, so instead he just ran around Lunari in circles.

"You weren't bad yourself," said Lunari in his calm voice, watching Ferness run.

"You two know each other?"

The two boys looked at each other embarrassedly at speaking in unison, then looked to their pokemon. Ferness stopped running in circles and bounded over to James, with Lunari waddling behind.

"Duh, of course we know each other, " said Ferness. "We're both Arkani's starter pokemon."

"What? Really?" asked James.

Alec shrugged. "You got your pokemon from Arkani too, then?"

James nodded. "Yeah, just today. When did you get yours? Because I swear she had all of the starters just a few hours ago…"

"I got mine a couple hours ago," answered Alec. "I guess just a little while after you left."

"You must've traveled pretty fast to already be catching up to me," remarked James.

Alec shrugged. "Not really. I got kind of lost." He nudged his head towards the ground where the melee had just taken place. "But you were pretty tied up yourself. "

"Oh yeah. The does make sense…"

"Hello? We going anytime today?" interrupted Ferness, fidgeting impatiently.

James looked, startled, at his pokemon. The shock of seeing another of Arkani's trainers had made him forget about Ferness already. "Oh, yeah, I guess so." He turned to Alec. "Well, it was nice meeting you. Maybe we'll run into each other later!"

James held down his arm, which Ferness jumped on and scrambled up to his shoulder. He took a few steps away, and then stopped.

"Oh, wait. I guess this was kind of rude of me," he said turning to face Alex again. "Do you want to tag team for a while? At least to Basemount or something?"

Alec looked at Lunari, who nodded nonchalantly, and then back at James. "Sure, sounds okay." He picked up his water beaver and strode up next to James, and they continued walking.

"So, did you have to go on some bogus quest?"

---

_Ping!_

Arkani immediately dropped the box she was holding and bounded to her computer. The box crashed to the ground, sending papers flying and pokeballs rolling, but Arkani ignored it, her eyes glued to the computer.

**Porygon181** – It has been sighted.

Arkani breathed a sigh of relief. She typed in her message with frantic speed.

**ArkiQueen** – Location?

**Porygon181** – Just outside of Basemountain City. Scanning pictures.

Arkani jumped up and let out a victory whoop. She knocked over a lamp in her jubilee, but she was able to catch it before it crashed into a million pieces, thanks to her pokemon reflexes. She sat down before she could break anything else, and watched as the picture slowly came onto her screen.

The picture that loaded onto the professor's computer was a remarkable one – almost too fantastic to be real at all. Standing in the middle of a grassy field and looking into the distance was Raikou – but Arkani could barely recognize the beast as the legend of Thunder. The pokemon was not a radiant gold as pictures had shown before, but instead the creature's pelt was a dark, midnight blue. Silvery streaks ran across its back, resembling shooting stars. The Raikou's jagged tail was silver as well, ending in a starburst of electricity that crackled endlessly like a blue flame. Raikou's cloudlike mane was a dark green, almost black color that swayed like a cloud of rich, toxic gas. The creature was breathtaking, yet it disturbed something deep inside Arkani.

She pulled out her pokedex and began sending messages to each of "her" trainers.

---

"Dude, that was hardcore!" laughed Alec, dusting himself off. He looked at James, who was also covered completely in dust, making him look like a golem of earth. "You did great!"

James smiled, his teeth and eyes the only thing visible from beneath the layer of sand. "I'll say. Lunari and Ferness rock together!"

Their foe, a younger boy of about thirteen, frowned and looked down at his fallen pokemon. "I can't believe Sand Tomb didn't work," he muttered to himself, returning his Diglett. He held up both of his pokeballs, looking sadly from Diglett to Butterfree and back again.

"You were great," said James, clapping the boy on his back. "You didn't lose by much."

Alec walked up next to James, sporting an identical uplifting smile. "I'll say. That Sand Tomb attack was awesome!"

The boy smiled. "Thanks." He looked back to his pokeballs. "Well, I guess I'd better head back to town. See you guys later!" He waved and disappeared into the rocky landscape.

James and Alec stood side by side, watching the boy walk away, a proud look on their faces like older brothers that had just imparted great wisdom to the younger.

"But seriously, James, you were…" he looked over at James, and immediately burst out laughing at his friend's appearance. James and Alec stood laughing for what could have been hours, doubled over and gasping for air ever as they laughed their heads off.

"You two are insane, " said Ferness, looking at them like they were… well, insane.

"I can fix this, " offered Lunari, and before James or Alec could object, Lunari had blasted both of them with Water Gun. The boys ceased laughing immediately and looked down at their clean but sopping wet bodies.

"Thanks. So sweet of you," said Alec dryly.

James chuckled a little, but stopped when Lunari blasted him again.

"I don't even have a towel…" grumbled James, stepping away from the Water Gun-happy Lunari.

"Basemountain City is only a couple minutes away," said Alec, looking at his map.

"Really?" asked James, pulling out his own pokedex. As soon as he touched it, however, it began to vibrate. "What the -?"

"Message received," announced an automatic voice from both of the boys' Pokedexes.

James looked at the machine, bewildered. "What do I do?"

Ferness climbed onto his shoulder and looked down at the machine. "I bet you press that button," he said, pointing.

James pressed it, and sure enough, an e-mail popped up.

_James, Alec, and Iris: I have your first mission. The legendary pokemon Raikou has been sighted near Basemountain City. I need you to get there and study this pokemon before it disappears._

No picture was attached, but it wasn't like they didn't know what Raikou looked like. After all, it wasn't a legend for nothing.

"Guess we better head to town, then," said James. Alec nodded, rereading the message and then looked up.

"Yeah, sounds like. Let's go."

---

Kihaz walked out of the pokemon center with a look on her face that could only be described as radiant. Her long, brown hair flowed behind her in the wind that she seemed to be creating as she walked with her typical confident stride. Her Flareon walked beside her, somehow keeping pace with her easily even though the fire pokemon's legs were remarkably shorter.

"I feel we accomplished quite a lot today, don't you?"

A woman passing Kihaz jumped and looked at her with a startled expression. The girl had just spoken to her pokemon! Granted, with the new pokedex features, this wasn't such a remarkable feat, but the girl had spoken… differently.

"It was a lot easier this time," Kihaz continued in pokemon tongue, "I remembered Rounda being more difficult."

The Flareon growled dismissively. "Of course it was easier. It's been a while since you battled her last, even at the first level. However, I completely disagree with your choice during the -"

"Oh, just stop it," interrupted Kihaz. "Quit going on about how I used Charmander instead of you. He needed the experience."

"Precisely my point, " answered the Flareon, obviously getting annoyed. "You risked the battle by using such an inexperienced pokemon. Even Ditto would've been a wiser choice, if you insist on not using me in battle."

Kihaz rolled her eyes. "You know I could handle it. And don't be so down on Charmander – he'll be as good as you someday."

Flareon sniffed disdainfully. "Oh yes, as good as _me_…"

Kihaz stopped suddenly. Flareon looked at her curiously.

"Kihaz, what's wrong?"

"Shh, whispered Kihaz."

Flareon stopped moving and tried to listen to whatever Kihaz seemed to be hearing. His ears twitched, and he heard it: someone, or something, was moving in the alleyway.

"Kihaz, don't do it," he warned, but it was too late. Daring to a fault, Kihaz was already making her way towards the dark alley.

"You know this can't end well!" said Flareon, bounding after her.

"Just watch my back, okay?" she said, winking to Flareon.

Flareon relaxed, something he immediately regretted.

A crash, as whatever was in the alley knocked something over. Kihaz' gray eyes flashed, and she turned quickly to face the alley. Flareon tensed, immediately alert, but it was too late. Something flashed out of the darkness, and the last thing Flareon heard before losing consciousness was a piercing scream from his trainer.


	4. Chapter 4

"That part where Lunari combined Tackle and Water Gun, was amazing, though!" exclaimed James. "It was like a new attack: Cannonball or something."

Alec laughed. Lunari, sitting in Alec's arms, seemed to blush. Not that it was visible thanks to his blue fur, of course.

James, Alec, and their pokemon had finally made it off Ibenrock Mountain, and they had spent the last ten minutes reminiscing over their battles as they searched for a pokemon center. They hadn't had much luck at the latter, but they figured if they wandered around enough they'd eventually find it.

Because god knows they couldn't ask for directions.

"It wasn't_that _amazing," he said humbly. Eager to shift the attention from himself, he added, "What about when Ferness used Bullet Seed to pierce straight through the Sand Tomb?"

"That was pretty hardcore," agreed Ferness, puffing out his chest.

James laughed at his pokemon's cockiness. "You know, if you don't stop boasting, someone's gonna come knock you down."

"Psh. I can take it," scoffed Ferness.

James opened his mouth to reply, but the next thing he knew he was eating dirt. His side seared with pain, and he could vaguely see Alec, Ferness, and Lunari splayed across the ground next to him.

"I didn't meeeaan it," groaned Ferness pitifully.

"What the hell happened?" asked Alec, standing up painfully. He scanned the ground to see if anyone else was lying on the ground, but he only saw four pokeballs strewn haphazardly on the ground, as if someone had dropped them. He turned around, but he only saw the back of some man running away.

"What an asshole," said James, seeing the same man. "He could have at least said sorry before running off."

"Uh… I think there was a reason he didn't stop."

James turned to Alec, who was crouched on the ground inspecting some pokeballs. "What do you mean?"

Alec stood up and held out one of the pokeballs to James. James took the ball from him, but dropped it as soon as it touched his hand.

"Oh my GOD! What is on that thing?!" he yelled, waving his hands frantically to get whatever was on it off.

Alec picked up the pokeball solemnly. "James… I think it's blood."

James stopped. "What?"

"Blood. I think there's blood on these pokeballs." Alec stared at the pokeballs, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Well," began James, suddenly feeling sad and scared at the same time. "What do you think happened? I mean, that can't be _real_ blood, right? I mean, it can't…"

Alec stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I, um, I think we need to find out what happened."

James nodded.

"Uh, guys, I think something's going on over there…" said Ferness timidly, pointing down the street.

Alec and James looked, and sure enough, there was a gathering of people at the end of the street near an alleyway. Not sure what else to do, Alec attached the blood-stained pokeballs to his belt, and he and James headed towards the commotion.

"What happened?" asked James once they were close to the crowd of people.

Many people turned and looked at him, eyes wide with shock.

"A girl… there was a girl…"

"They found a girl here… murdered…"

"They say it was a pokemon…"

"No, she was mugged. It was person."

"But how? How could they?"

James stood, shocked into stillness by all the stories. Ferness and Lunari sat at his feet, numb expressions on their faces.

"I have to see her," said Alec. He shoved his way into the crowd, pushing and squeezing through the mob until he reached the center.

Lying across the ground, her body twisted into a grotesque figure, was a girl that didn't look any older than Alec himself. Her gray eyes were open in fear, her face frozen forever in horror. Her brown hair was blood soaked from the pool that had formed around her frame. Her right arm was somehow twisted all the way behind her neck, and one of her legs had broken backwards. Two nasty gashes had been ripped into her, one at the stomach and the other right beneath the neck.

Alec gaped in horror, a mix of grief and rage displayed on his face. Suddenly, he couldn't look at her anymore, and he whipped around and shoved his way back out of the crowd.

"Alec, what was it?"

Alec ignored James, but only because he knew he couldn't answer even if he wanted to. His throat was so choked up that he could barely talk, but his mind was so filled with rage that he could barely form words in his mind to speak anyways.

"Lunari. Come on," he choked out. He continued walking, glaring off into nothingness. Lunari quickly stood up and chased after him.

"Wait! Alec! Where are you -?" James called out, but it was pointless. Alec couldn't hear him, and he didn't have any intention of stopping.

_I will find that man. And he will pay._

_--- _

James stood by the crime scene for hours and watched as the police came and the crowd left, until they loaded up the body, took pictures of the evidence, and finally asked James to leave. James nodded and walked away quietly, and Ferness stayed startlingly quiet as well.

He had no idea where Alec had run off to, and he had no idea what Alec was planning to do. What he did know, however, that now that Alec was gone, he was back to traveling alone again. Earlier in the day he wouldn't have minded at all, but the hours he had spent with Alec had made James realize how little he wanted to travel alone. All thoughts of Arkani's "assignment" were totally forgotten.

Suddenly he remembered Ferness, who was still sitting quietly on his shoulder. _I guess I'm not traveling alone after all,_ he thought. James reasoned that it was the death he had seen that was causing him to feel so lonely. It hadn't hit him as hard as it seemed to hit Alec, at least not at first. But now James felt a large cavity gaping inside of him, and it scared him.

"James? Are you okay?" asked Ferness timidly.

James looked over at Ferness. A real look of concern was etched on the pokemon's face. "Oh yeah, I'm fine," he said, trying to smile. "It's just… that girl… and now Alec. Today has been a weird day."

Ferness nodded. "I'll say. My first day out of the lab has been like a soap opera."

James managed a real smile, though only a small one.

"Hey! We finally found it! exclaimed Ferness," jumping on top of James' head. "There's the pokemon center!"

James sighed with relief. "Thank god."

Not wasting any time, James ran to the center and checked himself in. After Ferness was safe inside his pokeball underneath the humming and lights of the healing machine James curled up beneath the covers of the center's cot. And just as darkness was sweeping away all of the previous day's light, James let sleep wash away all of doubts and fears along with his consciousness.

---

Alec was almost all of the way out of Basemountain City before he felt calm enough to stop walking. He couldn't recall ever feeling so angry in his life – for the last few hours, Alec had imagined catching the murderer and punishing him in various painful ways. But as the blind rage began to ebb, logic set in. He had no idea what the murderer looked like, as he had only seen his back, and he didn't really know what direction the man had ran off in.

_How the hell am I supposed to chase this guy if I don't even know what he looks like?_ He wondered. He tried to imagine what steps the police force would be taking to find the murderer. _I guess first the investigate the crime scene… to late for me to do that. Then I guess they'd send some Growlithe after him to sniff him out…_

And then it came to him. One of the girl's pokemon had probably seen the murderer, or at the very least smelled him. He unlatched one of the pokeballs and looked at it. The pokemon inside was a Flareon. Alec decided to test his luck, and he released the fire pokemon from its ball.

With a flash of light, the flaming creature appeared, growling at Alec.

"Who are you? Where is Kihaz' killer?"

Alec took a step back, startled. "Wait a minute, calm down. I found you and the rest of the girl's pokemon, and I'm trying to find her murderer."

Flareon didn't respond.

"Hey!" said Alec, "How did you know I wasn't the murderer? I mean, not that I wanted you to think I was or anything, but…"

"You don't have his foul scent," he growled.

"So you know his scent?"

"Well enough, " replied the pokemon simply. He looked up at Alec. "You will help me find him?"

Alec nodded. "Yes. I will help you find your master's killer." Alec couldn't help but notice how much he sounded like some corny sci-fi character, but the seriousness of the situation kept him from laughing.

The fire pokemon didn't hesitate to take action. Without wasting another second, Flareon sniffed the air, found a scent he recognized, and headed off. Alec clipped Flareon's pokeball back onto his belt and followed.

"So… you said her name was Kihaz?"

Flareon nodded, though he didn't lift his eyes from the path ahead of him. "Yes. Her name was Kihaz. She was a master trainer, beaten only by an elite few, and -"

Flareon stopped, unwilling to mention her final defeat. He felt as if he were in a terrible dream, and if only he could avoid mentioning what had happened, everything would return to the way it was. "She was that great?" piped up Alec, attempting to break the depressed silence.

Flareon woke from his daze and began walking again. "Yes, " continued Flareon, sounding solemn and reverent. "She was one of the best. And she spoke the Ancient Tongue."

"Ancient tongue? What in the name of Mew is that?"

Flareon sniffed disdainfully at Alec's ignorance. "She could speak to pokemon. But she didn't need to use such a primitive device as that. " He motioned his head towards Alec's pokedex. "She was a remarkable person," finished Flareon, his voice beginning to choke up.

"It'll be okay," offered Alec. Flareon shot him a glare that clearly said, no, it won't be okay.

"I mean, it won't be okay, completely, I'm sure. Not for her." He looked down sadly at Flareon. "But she will be avenged. I'll make sure of it."

Flareon nodded, seemingly incapable of doing anything else. Focus on the path ahead, take one step forward. Focus ahead, take a step. Focus, step. It didn't make the problem go away, but it seemed to numb the pain a little.

"She will be missed," he whispered, but the pokedex's translator didn't catch it.

But Flareon knew Kihaz would have.

---

By the time morning came, the dreams had stopped. When James finally woke up, he was able to think of something besides either Alec or the dead girl. He showered and got dressed, and when he was done, he felt ready to take on Basemountain's gym. The clenching sorrow and fear that had permeated his dreams was finally sent into a small corner of his body, and James was determined to keep it there.

"I feel ready to take on Basemountain's gym," he announced. He stood proudly in the doorway to the room he had slept in, sunlight shining through the window onto him like a spotlight.

Ferness looked up from his bowl of food. "Finally. I've been waiting all morning."

James rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. I saw you get up like a minute before I did."

"Whatever," snorted Ferness. "How would you have seen me if you were sleeping?"

James chose to ignore the question. Instead, he grabbed his pack and headed out onto the streets. Grudgingly, Ferness ate a last few bites from his bowl and chased after James.

Basemountain City's gym was right at the center of the town. The building was basically a large, silver dome, so it stood out from the rest of the buildings. James couldn't imagine why anyone would want to live in a dome, but it didn't matter much.

"You ready?" he asked, looking over at Ferness, who was sitting on his shoulder.

"Born ready," answered Ferness.

"Loser," laughed James, referring to Ferness' lame use of the clichéd phrase. Ferness only glared.

James and Ferness entered the gym, and the sight that awaited them was exactly as James had pictured it. The gym was just one big, round room – like a half-Cerebro. A girl was sitting in the middle of the room, absentmindedly tracing the tile with her fingers.

"Um, hello?" called James.

The girl turned around. "Yes?"

"I'm looking for the gym leader here," he said, "Are you… are you the gym leader?"

The girl threw back her head and laughed. "Oh no. God no. Let me get her." She stood up and began walking to the back of the room.

"ROOOOOOOOOOUUUNDA!!!"

James jumped, startled by the girl's surprisingly loud scream.

A door in the back swung open.

"Good gods, don't yell like that."

A very large, round woman stepped in through the door. She had to be at least six feet tall, which alone was very intimidating to James. However, she was also at least four feet wide, and the very ground seemed to shake when she walked.

"I swear, Tracy, one of these days you're going to blow out my eardrum. Or worse, a window," she said, walking to the side of the room opposite James.

"We don't have windows in here," replied Tracy curtly, sitting at the edge of the round battling field.

"Lugia on a platter girl, I swear. One of these days…" Rounda sighed, and then looked over at James. "So you're our challenger today, are you? Well, my name's Rounda, and it'll be a pleasure battling ya. What level challenge are we taking today?"

"Oh. Well, um, my names James," he said, nervous now that the lady was addressing him. "I think I'm challenging level one… uh, and it'll be a pleasure battling you, too."

Rounda laughed. "Well aren't you a cutie? Lets go, then! Geodude!"

The boulder pokemon materialized in the center of the battling field, pounding his fists together.

"Laughable," scoffed Ferness, jumping off James' shoulder.

"Battle begin!" yelled Tracy.

"Geodude, use your – " began Rounda.

Geodude readied himself to do whatever Rounda was to order, but it never got the chance. With one Bullet Seed attack from Ferness, the rock pokemon was out.

"Well!" said Rounda with some surprise, "I see you've had some practice on Geodude! Let's see how you fare with this one."

She tossed out another pokeball, and from the light a fat, pink cow emerged.

_Miltank,_ piped up James' pokedex, _the milk cow pokemon. Miltank are revered in many civilizations for their healing milk and hardy nature. Miltank often travel in packs, the leader being distinguished by –_

James quickly pressed the "stop" button on the pokedex. He could read about the Miltank after he beat it. "Sorry," he said, blushing a little in embarrassment.

Rounda heaved her massive shoulders in what James assumed was a shrug. "No big. That's what I'm here for." She laughed for a little while at her own joke, and then put her serious face back on.

"All right, Miltank! Let's get this battle rolling!"

"Ferness! Start out with Ember!"

Ferness ran at the cow pokemon, preparing the sparks of fire in his mouth. He jumped a foot into the air, prepared to launch the attack… and was slammed into the ground by the rolling form of Miltank's large body.

"Ow," moaned Ferness. "I hate having this happen."

Miltank just continued to roll, past Ferness, past James, all the way to wall of the gym.

"Come on, Ferness! You can do this!" called James. "Try Bullet Seed!"

Ferness stood up, but was immediately crushed into the ground again by Miltank.

"Stop it!" yelled Ferness, standing up, but it was too late. Miltank came rolling back, even faster, and sent the chipmunk flying.

"I hate you!!!" wailed Ferness as he soared through the air. Rounda laughed.

"Is this more than you can handle? Because you can come back anytime," she said with a smile.

James gritted his teeth, but the remark really got to Ferness.

"What are you talking about? We can take you! All I have to do is -"

His statement was cut short, due to being sent sailing back into the air by Miltank. This time, he landed right at James' feet.

"I despise this gym," he muttered to James. "Can we please beat it already?"

James smiled. "Of course," he said. "Just watch out for the Miltank to attack again, and dodge it."

Ferness rolled his eyes. "Ooh, what a plan. Why didn't I think of it myself?"

Before James could react to Ferness' statement, the Miltank came rolling behind the little chipmunk at a startling speed. He opened his mouth to warn Ferness, but it wasn't needed. Ferness turned, smirked at Miltank, and jumped over it.

"Well, that was easy enough, " said Ferness as he landed. "I just -"

To both James and Ferness' surprise, Miltank came around and slammed into Ferness at an even faster speed than before.

"What the -? How?" yelped James, "I could've sworn that a Rollout attack ends if it misses!"

Rounda smiled. "See, that's what's nice about this gym." She pointed up at the dome ceiling, and James could see Miltank rolling up the walls like a skater on a half-pipe. "The curved walls of this gym amplify the momentum and power of Rollout attack. Makes it much more potent," she paused and watched Ferness get pummeled by the attack again, and Miltank roll up the wall again. "And it makes that hit-and-miss thing irrelevant."

"Great," groaned James. "Ferness! Dodge it!"

With much more effort than before, Ferness managed to barely jump over the Miltank, but it was only seconds before the Miltank came rolling back down the wall and at Ferness.

_Crap!_ Thought James, _What am I supposed to do?_

_--- _

"Pidgey! Pidgey!"

Alec opened his eyes to tired slits and peered upwards.

"Pidgey!"

Alec sat up, instantly awake the moment he realized that he was not looking up at a ceiling or a top bunk, but at a canopy of sun-spotted trees, buzzing with morning wildlife. Two Pidgeys called back and forth to each other, whose cries seemed to have awoken Alec. It took a moment for him to remember where he was and why.

"Flareon!" he said aloud, checking his pokeball to see if he'd recalled the pokemon before he'd fallen asleep. The pokeball was empty.

"Flareon!" he called, louder this time, and standing up. He didn't think Flareon would run away – at least, that's what he had thought before waking to find Flareon missing. He frantically began searching his mind for ways to find Flareon. He couldn't sniff him out, obviously. He hadn't "met" any of the girl's other pokemon yet, so he couldn't send them out to search out their companion because they wouldn't recognize Alec. Could the pokeball track him somehow? Of course not. But maybe the pokedex could.

Alec pulled out his pokedex and fumbled to turn on the search program. Thankfully, the girl's pokeballs had already registered themselves to his pokedex, so all he had to do was select Flareon. He growled impatiently as he waited for the program to load. Who knew how far away Flareon could be by now, the trouble he could be in? Finally, the pokedex beeped, the program ready.

Flareon was only five feet away. Alec tapped his pokedex. Surely that couldn't be right… but the pokedex insisted that Flareon was only five feet to Alec's left.

Alec looked to his left, and he understood. Five feet away was a bush that could perfectly hide a pokemon Flareon's size. Alec pocketed the pokedex, strode to the bush, and parted it.

He was startled to see the sleeping Flareon, but he wasn't entirely sure why. The Flareon was curled up into a tight ball, his face tucked so firmly into his side that it was barely visible. It wasn't the cocky pokemon that Alec had seen the day before. He looked so… small - helpless, even.

"Flareon?" he whispered, gently nudging the creature. He didn't want to hurt him or anything, but he desperately wanted to stop seeing Flareon like this. Even though he was sleeping, Flareon still looked completely exhausted. And that's what scared Alec the most.

---

James felt fairly sure that, had he known becoming a trainer would be so dizzying, he never would've bothered making the stupid trek to Og Gub. His eyes were tired of watching Rounda's Miltank whiz around the room, faster and faster, and Ferness getting more exhausted with each attack he attempted to dodge. James' stomach was twisting into knots just watching the battle, and he could faintly hear Rounda humming "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain," a strategy so distracting that James was sure it was illegal.

"This. Sucks! " exclaimed Ferness, voicing James thoughts out loud as he tried to fire a weak ember at the pink cow. The attack missed horribly, of course, because the Miltank had already passed Ferness and gone halfway up the next wall before Ferness' attack had shot.

"You have to be faster than that," yelled Tracy. James shot her an angry glare.

"Why thanks. Thanks for that."

She shrugged. "Just trying to help." She pointed back to the battle. "You should probably be paying attention to that, anyways."

James turned back only to see Ferness narrowly avoid Miltank's revolving body slam.

"Please tell me you have a strategy, " panted Ferness. "I can't keep this up for much longer."

"I'm trying!"

"Oh, yeah," grumbled Ferness, throwing himself into the air with a grunt, "_You're_ trying real hard. I can tell."

James gritted his teeth and watched the Miltank fly up the wall and across the ceiling. Ferness braced himself, ready to jump and avoid the attack.

"I think I've got it," began James uncertainly.

"What? WHAT? I kind of need to know now!" squeaked Ferness frantically as he watched the massive bulk of a pokemon descend down the wall.

"Okay… um, use Quick Attack, but only on my cue."

"Are you crazy?"

"NOW!"

Ferness aimed for the Miltank, trying to get a clear target. Miltank was only a few feet away from Ferness by the time James had cued the attack, and by the time Ferness was ready, the cow was already rolling away.

"Whatever," growled Ferness, shooting after the Miltank and slamming the moving pokemon forward even harder.

Rounda gasped.

Miltank's speed was instantly boosted. In two seconds she completed a full cycle of the room, the following cycle only took one second, the next even less… the pokemon was nothing but a worriedly mooing pink blur. Ferness ran around frantically, unable to even see his attacker anymore.

"What kind of a plan was that? " wailed Ferness.

"See for yourself."

Finally, in a record-breaking time of .3 seconds, Miltank completed the full circular rotation and slammed up against the opposite wall, unable to control her own velocity. The unconscious cow slowly rolled down the wall and stopped at the center of the room at the feet of an exhausted, but somehow smug, Ferness.

Rounda chuckled, the red laser from her pokeball retrieving Miltank. "Good job, kiddo. That's a strategy no one's used yet." She looked warmly at Ferness. "Your pokemon's a real trooper – most rookie-level pokemon can't handle more than three hits, much less avoid them for that long."

James shrugged. "Er, thanks."

Tracy bounded over to the center of the ring. "Miltank is down!"

Rounda stared at her. "Yes, we know that, Tracy. Thank you."

"The winner of this match is the challenger, JAMES!"

"Thank you," repeated Rounda, annoyed. She shoved Tracy out of the way and stepped up to James.

"Here is the Round Badge," she said, handing James a plain-looking, circular pin. "For winning, you also get this Technical Machine, Fire Spin."

James gawked. "What? Why Fire Spin? Shouldn't it be something like Rollout?"

Rounda laughed. "As if you could teach it to that little thing." She smiled, patted James on the back, and forcefully turned him around to face the exit.

"Well, off you go! Have fun on your adventure!"


End file.
